FEBRUARY 14: Connaughton had surgery in New York on Monday to repair the fractured fourth metacarpal on his right hand, according to a Bucks press release. He’s expected to be sidelined for approximately four weeks.
FEBRUARY 13: Bucks reserve shooting guard Pat Connaughton is set to treat the fractured fourth metacarpal (ring finger) in his right hand with a surgical procedure, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Woj adds that the Bucks expect to have Connaughton back on the court in time for the conclusion of the 2021/22 NBA regular season.
We wrote earlier in the week about the injury, which occurred during Thursday’s loss to Phoenix, just hours after the Bucks relieved themselves of some guard depth. The club shipped out guards Donte DiVincenzo and Rodney Hood, along with forward Semi Ojeleye, in a four-team deal that netted Milwaukee former Clippers center Serge Ibaka.
The 6’5″ Connaughton, a key contributor to the Bucks’ 2021 title team, has enjoyed his best season as a pro with the 35-22 squad in 2021/22. Through 54 games, he’s averaging 10.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 1.2 APG and 0.9 SPG, on shooting splits of .467/.407/.811.
Led by All-Star power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, All-Star wing Khris Middleton, and All-Defensive Team point guard Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee is currently the fourth seed in a crowded Eastern Conference. The Bucks may need to lean on their deep-bench reserves as the regular season’s stretch run kicks into high gear following the All-Star break.
The Bucks also have multiple open roster spots following the trade deadline, so adding another guard to the roster will be an option. Wojnarowski, who previously identified Milwaukee as one of Goran Dragic‘s potential suitors, says the team is expected to aggressively pursue the point guard once he finalizes a buyout agreement with San Antonio (Twitter link).
Bucks are a small market
They can’t afford Allen, Donte. Brunson type of contract
Who is Brunson? Or, more importantly, what does he have to do with the Bucks?
Also not sure how they can’t (couldn’t) afford Divo. He is set to be a RFA, so they can (could) match any offer, hes coming off a significant injury and has not proven his game is anywhere near worthy of a significant contract offer. So unless some desperate team throws him an insane offer, I don’t think that has anything to do with why he was dealt away.
He was expendable, that’s why he’s gone.
I can only assume it’s Jalen Brunson? But I have no idea what he has to do with anything. He’s not connected to the Bucks, the Bucks don’t really need him(I mean, they could use him of course, but there’s always a cost-benefit analysis) and there’s almost literally ZERO chance they could acquire him this year.
Also…name ONE team in the NBA who WOULD willingly spend what would end up costing roughly…~80M per year on an undersized PG who’s not a particularly good defender when they’ve already GOT the best defensive G in the NBA and a starting PG they’re paying ~35M to in Holliday?
Name a SINGLE team in the NBA that’d be willing to do that?
Now…if they could acquire say…Steph, then would the Bucks be willing to take on both the salary and then the luxury tax hit? Yeah, probably. But still not sure what this has to do with anything OR Pat Connaughton at all…
What are you even saying? They CAN absolutely “afford” Allen, Donte and Brunson…but two of those players are literally NOT on the team. One of them they just traded away and took back MORE in salary and the other…well, he just has nothing to do with the Bucks other than he’s also an NBA player.
They’re paying roughly 60M in the luxury tax and coming off an NBA Title. I understand you know what the term “small market” means, but do you know what “revenue sharing” means?
I mean…just nothing that you said makes sense to be honest.
Who has a better starting lineup?
Bucks, Heat, 76ers
76ers bench is very thin
Green is old
Milton, 30% 3pt
Korkmaz 30% 3pt
Niang
4-man bench rotation
Bulls
Injuries are degrading the Bucks lineup. We now have two key players who will have to ramp up their game in the last part of the season. Even if Ibaka is serviceable losing Connaughton is a blow that could affect their seed. The top 5 are very close and only 5 games separate 1 from 7.
Who cares about their seed? The East is weird this year. With the Nets at the…what, 8 seed right now.
They’ve also got key injuries and will have to ramp up their game in the last part of the season.
I’m a little concerned about it being his shooting hand…but broken fingers aren’t that big of a deal. I have broken LITERALLY every finger and unless there’s a displacement, they heal very quickly. Russell Wilson had a more severe broken finger, but this is just a way to ensure it heals quicker.
But sure, they’ve got some reasons to be concerned. Brook may only have a month to get back into playing shape…though it sounds like they’re REALLY optimistic.
Serge on the other hand have worked their way back from the same back injury but was stuck on a team that’s got an eye on next year since Serge was on his last year. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see a little resurgence from Serge.
If they get Dragic…and provided they don’t deal with any other injuries, I’d feel good. In fact, I’d look at this year as the Bucks best chance to win a Title…if they hadn’t last year.
They should be the best team in the East. I think you can neutralize Harden and Embiid as well as anyone with Jrue and then Giannis/Lopez/Serge/Portis and hell, throw Thanasis in on him every once in a while. He’ll get a foul per minute, but he’ll get in Embiid’s head. Plus, I think Joel folds in the playoffs.
The Nets are the biggest threat again with a legit option to defend Giannis in Simmons and the greatest scorer since MJ in KD…but he’s banged up. And Kyrie is a head case who I don’t trust. They’ve also got injuries like Joe Harris. But they’ve definitely built that roster with Giannis in mind.
You could not find a better fit for Simmons than Brooklyn. Especially if the had Harris.
The Bulls are a nice story, good team. I don’t think they can beat us if we’re healthy in a 7 game series. Especially with Lavine’s injury.
The Heat are certainly a threat…but I don’t know that Bam and PJ Tucker are enough to stop Giannis.
If the Bucks can get healthy, get 20-25 MPG from Lopez, 15-20 from Serge in the post-season I really like our rotation. Jrue/Allen/Midds/Giannis/Lopez
Then Portis, Dragic, Wes, Pat and Serge getting some run? This is a deep versatile team that IF they can kinda get healthy and put it together at the right time, they’re still the favorites in the East IMO.
Probably say that it’s GSW then Pho in the West and a slight edge to GSW overall.
Celtics!
Yeah, Celts fans should be feeling themselves right now.
If they can finally figure out how to move the ball and use Tatum and Brown together, they have some players who can defend Giannis a bit. Tatum is kinda the 1st wave, then Wiliams/Horford at the rim?
Really gonna come down to if they can get Connaughton back and rolling with Allen as their shooters. If they get Dragic?
But that COULD be a good series. No clue what Lopez looks like or if Ibaka can become more of a contributor like many vets when it’s more of a half court game.
It’ll be fun. Glad the Bucks got one last year because Giannis looks even better this year. Just freer. More confident in his jump shot, more confident in his FT. Like a weight has been lifted. They’ve been riddled with injuries…and I think they’ve placed FAR less emphasis on regular season records this year, but I think this team could easily be a better playoff team than last year…and they could still lose. To a hot Boston team(if they can actually peak in June, not now) or Philly, the Nets could get hot, Miami, Boston, Chi…who knows.
That’s a big loss. Can he back for playoffs??
Ibaka was a great pickup. But now you have to get a shooter in buyout market. They should be looking for a wing scorer.
I read 6+ weeks in the first report of the injury.
This, unfortunately, is exactly what I was afraid of when they traded Divo and Hood. Lack of depth with Hill on the shelf. Now they have Allen and Matthews.
It’s pretty minor. Normal people likely wouldn’t have had a surgery. A Football player would just tape it up. But…obviously, shooting hand, requires more finesse.
He’ll be shooting and working out in 2-3 weeks and the Bucks will be overly conservative. Embry will help, but we’ll need another buyout.
I don’t think it’ll be a long term issue this year, but…it’s always an issue when a player is hot and they take 4-5 weeks off.
Pat is 6’5″? Taller than I thought. I think Bucks will be fine tbh. He’ll be back when it matters.
6’5 with a 46 inch vertical!
That’s actually pretty nuts. A verifiable, legit 44 or 46 Inch vert also. One of the best EVER.
He’s a helluva athlete. I agree, the Bucks will be fine.
IF they get Dragic, they’re gold. If not, it’s still a playoff rotation of;
Jrue/Allen/Middleton/Giannis/Lopez
Hill/Connaughton/Ibaka/Portis and Wes and Embry will likely rotate in for defensive purposes…and both can shoot it. I think Embry’s over 42 pct from 3.
So yeah, it’s just about getting hot. The big 3(and Grayson) play SO well together. Dragic could really put them over the top. They probably need him ore than really anyone else.
I could see Jrue/Dragic/Allen/Middleton/Ginnis lineup’s at times if he wants to come here. Either way, should be fun.